The gentleman begged there might be no apology.--But Mr. Mortimer really felt he ought to apologise.--Yet the gentleman most particularly begged there might be no apology; and--there was the little bill!--and--where would Mr. Mortimer have the goods put, since they were in a van--the very first thing, in the shape of a conveyance, that the gentleman could see when he had bargained for the type and the machine-press--in a van, at the door! The bill was something more than one hundred pounds, and--and--Mr. Mortimer was staggered, for he had not calculated on half the sum; but, what could he say? It would be so disrespectful, so ungrateful, so ungentlemanlike, to demur to the price or the purchase; so Mr. Mortimer thanked the gentleman "most heartily:" he was under very deep obligations to him: it was what he ought not to expect from a mere stranger: he would retain a most grateful sense of the gentleman's kindness. And he begged the gentleman would be seated; and would the gentleman take claret, or did he prefer Burgundy? The gentleman reminded Mr. Mortimer that the van was at the door, and it was necessary to say what was to be done with the goods. He (the "legal gentleman") had an unoccupied office just now on his hands, and it was at Mr. Mortimer's service if---- An English thought shot across Mr. Mortimer's mind, and he rang the bell, and summoned his landlady. "Did she know of any upholsterer, or other tradesman in the neighbourhood, who could take care of a little furniture that was in the van at the door?" The landlady replied that she did, and Mr. Mortimer begged she would see it taken care of, in her own name. The legal gentleman looked very sharply and earnestly at his watch,--when the landlady withdrew, and Mr. Mortimer again mentioned the wine. He, the "legal gentleman," really could not stay at that particular time: he had acted thus promptly in order to serve Mr. Mortimer, for he was aware of the vast importance of promptitude in national affairs, and Mr. Mortimer's particular business might most emphatically be termed a national affair, when its ultimate purpose was considered. Mr. Mortimer could not press the gentleman under such circumstances, so began to write out a cheque for the amount of the bill. A sudden thought struck him, however, just as he had handed it to the gentleman. "We must talk one point over, my dear sir," he said, "and that is, _where_ must the paper be published? for you observed that there were already several small papers of an insignificant character in the county, and that they were published at different towns. Now _where_ must my new paper be published, so as best to compete with one of them?" The legal gentleman looked as if taken aback for a moment, but speedily answered, "Why not in London?" "Hum!" replied Mr. Mortimer, musingly: "would not that be rather out of character? Might not the Kentish people deny that the paper was a Kentish paper at all, then?"